The Lions Pavilion Victoria Peak View Point Hong Kong
A free alternative to the Peak Tower 428 Sky Terrace
Me Jamie, your host, I am English and I have lived in Hong Kong since January 2nd 1972 - I know the place.
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The Lions Pavilion Victoria Peak View Point Hong Kong
A free alternative to the Peak Tower 428 Sky Terrace
The Lions Pavilion, Victoria Peak, Hong Kong est. 1976
click on the image to enlarge
Lion’s Pavilion at Victoria Peak also known by it’s original name Lions View Point Pavilion on Findlay Road
A drone image of the Lions Pavilion at Victoria Peak in Hong Kong.
A bit of advice before i talk about the Lions Pavilions, there are probably hundreds of articles by travel bloggers out there about Victoria Peak, a lot of the time they can be factually inaccurate and with all due respect to them, quite a few of them have probably visited Hong Kong once, that does not make you an expert, try and find bloggers who have visited Hong Kong many times of even better, who have actually lived here - things change in Hong Kong and my blog posts are NOT sponsored by anyone, they are my own musings on this fabulous city and I try to be as objective as possible.
Have a look at the website by Deborah Rogers a former Hong Kong resident who has an excellent website!
As hard as it might be to believe, my mission is simply to give visitors to Hong Kong, information that they might find useful and I can be pretty blunt but I have earned that right after living here for 53 years and Victoria Peak is my spiritual home!
I can rant on a bit about Victoria Peak because without fail most people have no idea that the Lugard Road Lookout has the best panoramic city view in the world!
For the record, I have been to Victoria Peak in Hong Kong over 6,000 times since 1972 and I have lost count of the number of times I have been to the Lions Pavilion which is literally one minutes walk away from the iconic Peak Tower and Peak Tram since it opened in 1976. It has not changed much since them with just a few minor refurbishments since the 1990’s, there are railings now to stop you falling from a height on Findlay Road and a lot more trees, some of which now block the view. (and yes, they should trim the branches of those trees)
I have seen a lot of Tour companies using an image of tourists admiring the view from the Lions Pavilion on their websites (it is a popular stock image) which is odd as it not remotely the best view.
To get to the Lions Pavilion, go to the corner of the Peak Tower and just find the sign that says Findlay Road and walk for less than a minute - for some reason which I cannot fathom this image is one of my most popular images!. note of caution, do NOT walk down Findlay Path which is next to Findlay Road, the Lions Pavilion is on Findlay Road.
The Lions Pavilion is about 150m or one minutes walk from the Peak Tower and is free of charge.
It opened on 3rd of September 1976 and was spruced up 1992 and also in the early 2000’s but it is totally unsuited to deal with the crowds that visit Victoria Peak these days, it has 2 levels and some awkward steps you have to negotiate, it has become the favourite place for Mainland Chinese Tour Groups to visit (unfortunately)
You will also see a plaque at the Pavilion referring to Tai Ping Shan - this is simply the Chinese name for Victoria Peak.
The drone image above shows you the scale of the Pavilion, it is far too small and I have never understood what they have not built a bigger pavilion next door so to speak to deal with the crowds.
It was built and funded by the Lions Club in Hong Kong and donated so to speak to the people of Hong Kong and for the enjoyment of visitors and is as mentioned a free alternative to the Peak Tower.
The elevation of the Lions Pavilion lookout is probably about 30m less than the Peak Tower 428 Sky Terrace (which literally gets millions of visitors a year) but the view is pretty much the same and this view is free, at the Peak Tower you pay US$10 approximately for an adult plus you have to go up multiple large escalators and there is often a large queue waiting to access the viewing platform and boy it gets crowded and again, lots of pushing and shoving, I hate going up there.
The Peak Tower 428 Sky Terrace US$10 per adult and a little less for kids
Having a company taking pictures of tourists from the best viewing spot on the Peak Tower does NOT help with crowd control. Quite often the platform is overwhelmed with tourists all pushing and shoving and taking 50 selfies. The Lions Pavilion is an excellent alternative.
It is popular because it is free but at any one time only 25 - 30 people can take pictures of the views and there is a lot of pushing and shoving and angry words aimed at people who linger too long… the Government could easily build an extension next to it with 10 times the capacity if they wanted too but I gave up dreaming about that decades ago.
These days I am quite horrified by the crowds of tourists visiting the Lions Pavilion, it can be a really horrible experience and I am not kidding about the pushing and shoving, tempers fray because people have no patience these days and those steps that are there are trickly to negotiate, there are NO railings to hold onto, so be careful.
The view is pretty much the same as that from the Sky Terrace 428 at the Peak Tower (just free!) which means it is NOT even remotely close to being the best spot for views. For that you need to go to the Lugard Road Lookout a 20 minute walk from the Lions Pavilion and my favourite place in the world.
As usual with sites like this there is no shortage of scam artists who try and get you to part with your money, it is a fortune teller type scam and quite annoying, a polite but firm no thank you normally does the trick.
So here are those very telling Tripadvisor review numbers in recent times
Victoria Peak = 36,326
The Peak Tram | number of reviews on Tripadvisor = 9,147
The Peak Tower Viewing Terrace only | number of reviews on Tripadvisor = 1003
The Lions Pavilion Viewing Terrace | number of reviews on Tripadvisor = 529
The Peak Galleria Viewing Terrace | number of reviews on Tripadvisor = 202
Lugard Road Lookout | number of reviews on Tripadvisor = 9
These numbers are correct as of May 17th 2025
I need to emphasise, the Peak Tower Sky Terrace 428 does NOT have 360o degree panoramic views of Hong Kong Island as many reviewers claim, not even close, it is 90o degrees at best.
I absolutely accept that the Peak Tram Company which owns the Peak Tower has to claim they have the best view at the Sky Terrace 428, that is a commercial decision and people will accept that because hardly anyone knows about the Lugard Road Lookout view.
For the record I give my own guests the choice of all 4 locations for the view as there are weather factors, time and peoples physical condition to factor in, invariably they will go to the Lugard Road Lookout on my recommendation.
The not so great view from the Lions Pavilion (free), the Peak Tower (US$10) and also the Peak Galleria Shopping Mall (free)
To make it absolutely clear, the primary reason you make the effort to go to the Lugard Road Lookout is not because it is FREE but because the views are far, far superior, in my humble opinion it is the greatest city view in the World and you need to see it.
I have wrote many blog posts on this matter over the years and it seems to no avail, the 3 view points listed above are pretty much the ones every tourist goes to because they are either given no option or more to the point, they simply have no idea that a much better view exists. Hong Kong residents and Private Tour Guides know better.
The Peak Tower dominates search results, it has a first class marketing team that has been promoting the Peak Tower for many decades and it is all tied up with the Peak Tram which has been running since 1888 - I am always amused that visitors flock to the Peak Tower which charges US$10 per adult for the view and they ignore the 3 places that are FREE and offer pretty much the same view or in the case of the Lugard Road Lookout a far, far superior view.
Perhaps it is the 20 minutes walk there and back from the Peak Tower | Peak Tram that stops people from going along Lugard Road, that is a shame, it is very green, a gentle stroll and lots to see and talk about and then that magnificent view.
I appreciate that we are just talking about a city view, but there views and then there is the worlds greatest panoramic city view, I know which one I would rather see,
I have nothing to gain about pointing visitors to the Lugard Road Lookout, it is a FREE view, all that I am interested in is letting visitors know that there is a much better option and frankly it will give you a much better read on the city when you see a lot more of it, it is simply breath taking.
click on the image to enlarge
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